New Louisville Orchestra conductor Teddy Abrams will be calling Nulu home, after buying a historic residence on East Market Street that most recently housed an antiques shop.

Abrams, 27, who will take over the reins of the orchestra from Jorge Mester when the orchestra's new season starts in September, will renovate the building, with help overseeing the project from orchestra board president Jim Welch and his wife.

He needs room for two pianos and a Hammond organ. "Maybe I'll even get a harpsichord," Abrams said Wednesday by phone, while he was in town going over plans for the house.

But he said he doesn't need 4,000 square feet just for himself and envisions the site becoming a "music haven," where orchestra members could perform, coach and teach and where guest artists could stay and perform, too.

He also could see having post-performance donor events there and turning it into stop on the monthly Trolley Hop tours through the area, which is known for it's arts scene, he said. He said he welcomes ideas from the community about how the house could be used.

The home is about 10 years older than an 1870s house he's been renting in Detroit. Abrams has been living there while serving as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's assistant conductor since 2012.

At the end of the summer — after traveling and conducting "all over the place" — he hopes to pack up in Detroit and head for Louisville and be able to move into his new "old" home in Nulu. He describes it as "perhaps Louisville's most up and coming and exciting neighborhood."

He already knows developer Gill Holland, who's helped revitalize the area, and he also has met with the area's business association.

When he first came to Louisville more than a year ago, he had been conducting closed sessions with the orchestra at the Kentucky Center for the Arts when he took a walk and continued east into Nulu.

He thought neighborhood was "so cool" and decided he would love to live there, he said. He found the East Market building for sale during an online search, and "I realized its location was perfect."

The Louisville Orchestra's new music director, Teddy Abrams, gives an impromptu performance at a private dinner party.
Neil Budde

Abrams bought the building for $542,500 on May 9, according to county property valuation records.

The house is set back from the street along a commercial stretch of East Market, across from Joe Ley Antiques.

An estate sale was held at the home in March.

Abrams has been staying at the Galt House part of the time when he's in Louisville, under a relationship the orchestra has with the hotel to house guest artists.

Abrams said the community has been very hospitable and that he's also stayed with people in their homes.

Even before he was hired in Louisville, "I've always joked about ... building a music temple somewhere," he said.

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061. Follow her on Twitter at @MarthaElson_cj.